The event was officially opened by the Director General of the FAO, QU Dongyu, and the Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, who were accompanied by other government agencies and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“We are at a critical moment for the world. We face this with a clear roadmap: transforming agri-food systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu at the ceremony.
For his part, the Ecuadorian President stated: “This conference is an extremely important forum to discuss challenges and priorities related to food and agriculture and to jointly coordinate the protection of food resources”.
In his capacity as President of the 37th Regional Conference of the Entity, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, Pedro Álava, stated that the food crisis requires the planning of new strategies involving the entire production chain.
The meeting kicked off Monday, March 28, with two-day high-level meetings of officials on food security and sovereignty, agri-food, the impact of climate change, poverty alleviation, national production, access to agricultural inputs and other issues.
They also assessed the 2022-25 multiannual work program of the Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The three remaining days will focus on the axes: better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life without leaving anyone behind.
Delegates will also define the priorities for adapting and locating the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031 in the area where at least 60 million people are suffering from hunger, according to official figures from the organization.
Inclusion, resilience, efficiency and sustainability are some of the recurring themes of the gathering, which Ecuador is hosting for the second time after 73 years of hosting the first gathering in September 1949.
The conference, which takes place every two years, brings together representatives of the 33 member states, including Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba and Dominica. Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.
The list is completed by the Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.
jha/scm